DENVER -- The four-team field embarking on the University of Denver Soccer Stadium for the 2022 #SummitMSOC Championship is arguably the strongest the conference has seen since it first hosted a postseason tournament back in 1994.
Host Denver is ranked No. 7 in the latest
College Soccer News Top 25 poll and tied for No. 9 with Marshall in the United Soccer Coaches' Top 25 and the Pioneers are not even the top seed in the event. That distinction belongs to Oral Roberts, who is receiving votes in both of those polls and eeked out the program's first outright title since 2004 by edging DU by a point in the League standings.
The Golden Eagles finished 7-1 with 21 points, while Denver went unbeaten at 6-0-2 to finish with 20 points. The Pioneers edged ORU 1-0 in what was the League-opener for both programs back on Sept. 24 and the Golden Eagles have not lost since. Denver has won seven of eight Summit League Tournaments since joining the conference, including last year in Macomb when the Pioneers won a pair of penalty shootouts en route to hoisting the trophy.
Both of those squads will take on League foes in the semifinals that were also ranked among the Top 100 in the latest NCAA RPI.
Top-seeded ORU, who is No. 50 in the latest RPI, faces No. 4 seed Kansas City, who was No. 99, in the opening semifinal at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT. The second-seeded Pioneers, who hold down the No. 31 spot in the RPI, takes on third-seeded Omaha, who was ranked 94th, at 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT.
The winners will square off in Saturday's title game at 2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT and all three matches of the postseason tournament will be streamed on
www.thesummitleague.org/watch.
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Semifinals | Thursday, November 10
S1: (4) Kansas City vs. (1) Oral Roberts | 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT
S2: (3) Omaha vs. (2) Denver | 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT
Championship | Saturday, November 12
C: S1 Winner vs. S2 Winner | 2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT
Men's Soccer Title IX Championship Ambassador: Diane Wendt (University of Denver)
The Summit League is excited to join the NCAA and its member institutions in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal law signed in 1972 that has provided education and athletic opportunities for women since its inception. To continue the celebration throughout the year at our championships we are giving the hosts an opportunity to recognize individuals who have been influential in Title IX or other gender equity initiatives by naming them Title IX Championship Ambassadors.
Denver and the Summit League will be recognizing Diane Wendt as the Men's Soccer Title IX Ambassador. Wendt, a member of the Denver Athletics (1997) and NACDA (2003) Hall of Fames, was the named the first director of women's athletics at DU in 1972. Her impact has been felt not only on DU's campus, but across the national colleigate sports landscape for the past 50 years. Among her many highlights, Wendt founded and facilitated the University of Denver Gender Equity Task Force and served as a member of the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force in 1992.
Celebrating Women's History Month with Diane Wendt (courtesy DU.edu; Alyssa Hurst)
What has fueled your long and determined fight for women in athletics?
"I was very active and athletic growing up in the ’50s and always thought of myself as being an undiscovered Olympic athlete. In reality, nothing could have been further from the truth, but I yearned for opportunities to participate in organized sports. There were no such opportunities available for girls where and when I grew up. The best opportunity for me was to participate in the Girls Athletic Association at my high school and enjoy periodic “play days” where we were organized into groups of girls lined up to participate in relays.
"Given my background and experiences growing up, my appointment at the University of Denver, and the passage of Title IX in 1972, I was at the right place at the right time to work at making a difference for girls and women interested in sports participation. I was fueled by each and all of these circumstances together.
Most rewarding of all, I am in awe of the legacy of Title IX. When I attend DU athletics events now, [I] see how bright, articulate, poised and accomplished our men and women student-athletes are when they represent the University and compete."
NO. 1 SEED
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (10-3-2, 6-1-0; 18 pts SL) | @ORUMSoccer
Next Up: vs. No. 4 seed Kansas City (11/10; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: vs. Southern Indiana (W, 4-0); at Western Illinois (W, 8-0)
Tournament History: 7-13 (14th appearance)
Tournament Titles: 1 (1999)
The Golden Eagles reeled off seven straight League wins to capture the program’s first outright title since 2004 and at least a share of its third in the last four seasons (2019 and 2021) ... 2004 was also the last time ORU was the No. 1 seed in the postseason event ... The Golden Eagles only title came in 2009 when they were the No. 2 seed and defeated top-seeded IUPUI ... ORU brings the second-highest scoring offense to the Mile High City as the squad averages 2.62 goals per match ... Senior forward Felipe D’Agostini shares the League lead with seven overall goals and each of those has come against a Summit League foe ... In ORU’s seven-match winning streak to close out League play, the Brazilian either had the game-winning goal or game-winning assist ... The Golden Eagles outscored their opponents 30-3 during that stretch ... Shane Anderson led the League with nine assists in overall matches with six of those coming against League foes ... ORU defeated Kansas City, 3-1, in the regular season matchup with the Roos on Oct. 8 ... The Golden Eagles broke a 1-1 halftime tie with a pair of second-half goals.
NO. 2 SEED
(10/7) DENVER PIONEERS (11-2-5, 6-0-2; 20 pts SL) | @DU_MSoccer
Next Up: vs. No. 3 seed Omaha (11/10; 4 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: vs. Western Illinois (W, 4-2); at Lindenwood (W, 4-0)
Tournament History: 15-1 (9th appearance)
Tournament Titles: 7 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)
The Pioneers finished off their first unbeaten season in Summit League play since 2018, closing out a 6-0-2 slate with a 4-2 win over Western Illinois ... The second place finish marked just the second time the Pioneers have not won at least a share of the regular season title in 10 years as a League member (finished third in 2019) ... DU would go on to win the tournament title in 2019 as the No. 3 seed and has hoisted the tournament trophy in all but one of its eight previous appearances ... Midfielder Sam Bassett shares the League lead with seven goals, while freshman Holger Olsson has erupted for five goals in his last three matches after going scoreless in his first 12 career matches ... Classmate Isaac Nehme recorded five shutouts in League play and has seven overall duirng his first collegiate season -- that latter total is tied for 15th most in the country ... Denver’s defense is yielding only 0.64 goals per match, which is tied for the 10th best average in Division I ... The Pioneers won the regular season tilt against Omaha, using an unassisted goal from Ben Smith in the 68th minute.
NO. 3 SEED
OMAHA MAVERICKS (7-5-2, 4-2-1 ; 13 pts SL) | @OmahaMSOC
Next Up: vs. No. 2 Denver (11/10; 4 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: vs. Eastern Illinois (W, 4-0); at Kansas City (T, 1-1)
Tournament History: 5-5 (7th appearance)
Tournament Titles: 1 (2017)
The Mavericks capped their regular season with a 4-0 victory over Eastern Illinois to earn the No. 3 seed for the second consecutive season ... Omaha arrives in Denver having outscored its last three opponents 10-1 and will to avenge a 1-0 home loss to the Pioneers from Oct. 1 ... This will mark the first time these two have met in a semifinal match after four consecutive title game appearances from 2016-19 ... The Mavericks won their lone title in 2017 as the No. 3 seed, outlasting the Pioneers in the longest penalty 9-8 in the League’s postseason history ... Kenji Mboma Dem finished the regular season tied for second in the League with six goals and was second alone with eight assists ... Mboma Dem scored in a 2-1 loss to Oral Roberts in last season’s semifinal matchup with the Golden Eagles ... He shared the team-lead in goals with newcomer Mathis Pilon-St Louis, while Tevin Rochester added five ... The Mavericks lost a 1-0 home match to Denver in the regular season, putting just one shot on goal against the Pioneers in the Oct. 1 match.
NO. 4 SEED
KANSAS CITY ROOS (6-4-5, 4-1-3; 15 pts SL) | @KCRoosMSoccer
Next Up: vs. No. 1 seed Oral Roberts (11/10; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: vs. St. Thomas (W, 2-0); vs. Omaha (T, 1-1)
Tournament History: 9-15 (18th appearance)
Tournament Titles: 3 (2001, 2003, 2008)
The Roos are back in the postseason, earning the No. 4 seed for the second consecutive season and sixth time in program history ... Kansas City took top-seeded Denver to penatly kicks in last year’s tournament ... Newcomer Christian Koffi was among the national leaders in shots on goal per match this season with 1.86 in overall matches and 2.25 in League play ... Two of his three goals in Summit action were game winners ... Kazuki Kimura led the Roos with four goals in League play, while defender Kotaro Hirokawa was tied for fifth among League players with four assists ... Cooper Clark, the reigning back-to-back Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year, made 30 saves in eight league matches and tied for second in the League with a .833 save percentage ... Kansas City fell to Oral Roberts in Tulsa on Oct. 8, 3-1 ... Samuel Nagy’s equalizer in the first half of that match (34th minute) was the last goal ORU allowed in the regular season.
#SUMMITMSOC
